Child of Terrin
by Midnite OniHime
Summary: A young woman survived a attack on her father's city, but, as the years pass she finds that there are drastic consequences. now, years later,what will she do as she faces a new even deadlier enemy...and the ones responsible for the death of her family.
1. prologue

**A/N: I've decided(read: been blackmailed) to submit the prologue of this story to see if anyone's interested, if you are I'll start posting the rest, whether or not I post depends on the reviews. I don't pretend to be the worlds best writer, so if you don't like my writing then don't read the story. I do hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own AVP, or any of it's characters, if I did, I'd be sitting on my own tropical island sipping cocktails from a coconut. And I'm not. **

**Prologue:**

_Terrin: 101 years After Raid _

Many years ago, her father ruled over their home country of Dreyone, from the main City of Dreyonai. Standing at the top of large, crescent-shaped cliffs, the city was surrounded on both sides, and divided down the middle, by the three canals that the might Dreyonai River split into before plunging forcefully down the cliff face, into a large lake, and then snaking its way to the sea. The city had been one of honour, and there was a lot of fighting, but murder was rare. They had respected the balance of life and death and lived in peace with the animals in the surrounding land. It had been perfect, wonderful.

But that was before They came. The legendary raiders that stormed the city, bringing with them a disease that brought death to her father and so many of her people. The ones that had survived were those that were too young to be considered adults, and the few adults that had been ordered to take them away from the city. Her father had wanted her to go with them, as she was barely more than a child at the time, only sixteen, but she had refused. He needed every fighter he could spare, and she was the best archer in the family, so she had stayed to fight alongside him and her brothers.

In the end, it hadn't been enough. When all the raiders were slain, only a handful of her people were left alive, but those who were fell ill almost instantly. A strange fever raged through their bodies, and some went mad with it, trying to destroy the city and killing themselves in the process. The rest fell into a death-like sleep before dying outright.

When her people found her, alone among the ashes, her clothes scorched and her skin white as marble, they thought she was dead, but when they looked closer, her skin was hot despite its colour and her heartbeat was strong and fast. They'd carried her to safety and watched over her while she lay, still as death while the fever raged through her. She had awoken, several days later, disorientated, but healthy.

At first, her people were wary of her, as she had been the only survivor, but as their hesitance faded, they asked her to take her rightful place as their leader. She had agreed, knowing that they would need the stability of tradition.

As the first weeks went by she started to notice that she was different. She grew stronger, faster and healed quicker. Deep cuts healed in a matter of minutes, and normally fatal wounds would heal over in a few hours. This was horrifying at first, but when her people found out, they didn't shun her as she'd thought they would, but had seen her as an invincible guardian. Later, as the years passed, she realised that she had not aged. Her body was regenerating itself. After a few years, she fell in love and married. She had a lovely daughter that had her father's kind eyes. She had watched them grow older as she stayed the same, but ten years after they married, she lost them both to a fever. That day, she vowed that she would not go through that ever again. And so, she watched her people grow old around her, but none of them ever turned against her, having learnt from childhood, that she did not willingly choose this path.

As the years passed, new, stronger enemies came and went, and she fought them all. It was the only time she allowed herself to lose control, and she fought with vengeance to protect those she cared about, her people. She fought with anger and vengeance for those who had been taken in the raids, and as she grew stronger, she grew wiser, until she could outsmart her enemies and win a fight without receiving a single blow.

But now, for the first time in the many years since her people entrusted her with the guardianship of their country, she worries. Strange creatures have overrun the main city of Malosri, their neighbouring country on the western side. These vicious demons with skin like black crystal and acid blood were a threat to her people as they hunted in large groups and never left survivors. At least, that's what she'd told her people. She hated lying to them, but if they found out what these demons really did with their captives, she was afraid they'd do something foolish. They used people as hosts for their reproduction, and as she was the only person to travel deep into their territory, as Malosri had now become, and come out unharmed, she was the only one who knew this. She had managed to travel far enough into their territory so see that they worked a lot like bees did. They had workers and soldiers by the thousands, but only one leader, a queen. Although she had only managed to get a brief look at the crested she hadn't liked what she'd seen one bit. The queen was huge, about the height of four men and looked even more vicious than her subjects. Where had they come from, these strange black demons? And now that she'd seen their numbers she wondered if she would be able to defeat them.

O

If you liked it, please say so, if you didn't, well, you win some you lose some…

Storm, I better get a review from you.


	2. Chapter One

**Child of Terrin: Chapter One**

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing, like I promised, here's the first chapter, and I hope you enjoy it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own AVP or any of its characters, I do however own this story and Keriwyn. **

"Keriwyn!" the young maid, Lyssa, ran out onto the balcony where her friend and Mistress, Keriwyn, sat poised on the edge of the stone rail that hung out over the edge of the falls that ran down both sides of the palace. "The Riders have returned! Captain Bellini confirms that the Demons have taken the last village. That puts them just over twenty miles west of the Border River." She announced breathlessly as she stopped a few feet away from the shadows that clung to the corner of the balcony. The bats were always attracted to the Queen. Lyssa frowned slightly, she didn't understand why Keriwyn disliked being addressed as queen although she supposed it could get irritating after a while. Keriwyn had ruled their country for more than a hundred years now, yet she looked no more than twenty. She had been sixteen when the fever had claimed the rest of her comrades, but left her changed. Lyssa's mother had passed on the extent of these changes to her, as had her mother before her; it had been that way from the beginning and in the palace almost all the servants were related. One of these changes was that Keriwyn had grown wings. Not the wings of birds like people had in the ancient stories, but wings like a bat's that could be folded invisibly against her body. That, Lyssa supposed, was why the bats were drawn to her rather than birds or other flying creatures.

"Thank you Lyssa." They're keeping close to their nest, they must be, if they weren't they would have come after us already. Keri uncurled herself and stepped lightly down from the rail, disturbing a few of the bats that rested around her and causing them to squeak indignantly.

"Oh hush now." She told them softly and stepped out into the late afternoon sunlight that caused the mist surrounding the palace to take on a golden shine. She turned to Lyssa with a smile, "they get rather irritable when I disturb them before sunset." She told the girl, noting that she had stepped away when they'd moved. Lyssa smiled back. Even though she didn't like bats, Keriwyn made them seem harmless and friendly, but they still made her nervous.

"So what other news do the scouts bring?"

"Not much…" Lyssa answered, going slightly red. Noting the reaction, Keri raised a dark eyebrow, her violet eyes shining with amusement.

"And what exactly did Markus say?" Lyssa glanced up, surprised at Keriwyn's perceptiveness, then quickly ducked her head and hiding her face behind a mass of mousey curls, mumbled an answer.

"He said to tell you he'd meet you here at six thirty tonight." Keri laughed at Markus' audacity. But she had expected him to do this. He was always trying to catch her off guard.

"And how on Terrin can Markus be so sure that I'll agree to meet him? But then again," she sighed, smiling tiredly "even if I don't agree, he'll probably just show up here anyway." The old clock in the entrance hall chimed six, mimicked by smaller clocks around the palace. "oh great, he gives me half an hour…" she muttered darkly. " you had better get home Lyssa, your mother will throw a fit if I let you be late for dinner." Lyssa smiled, knowing that her mother could be scary, and bossy.

"I have to agree, goodbye Keriwyn."

"Bye Lyssa." Keriwyn lingered on the balcony a few moments as she watched Lyssa hurry out of the room, then went inside. This had been her room for around ninety years now, since Lukas and Carly had died. She changed out of the plain black cotton slacks and sleeveless top she wore for training and put on a long, deep blue satin skirt with a matching blue sleeveless top. They were light and cool against her skin in the humid summer heat. She went to stand in front of the ornate gold framed mirror that Lukas had given her when Carly was born. She remembered every moment of their lives together, just like she remembered her childhood, even after all the years that had passed. She studied her reflection in the mirror. She looked about twenty now, though weather that was because she had actually aged, or whether it was just in her mind, she didn't know. Her hair fell to her waist in black waves that she had let loose after her training, her skin that had once been pale as death was now tanned dark from years of training in the sun, she was tall, over six foot, long limbed, with a lean, well muscled body, broad shoulders, a full bust and a small waist and wider hips, so that anything she wore clung to all the right curves. Her face seemed to be both delicate and strong ad the same time, with wide eyes, high cheekbones, a dainty nose and full lips, but dark eyebrows and lashes, a stubborn chin and violet eyes that she knew made people nervous. She ran a hand through the top of her hair to pull it out of her eyes, the movement causing the light to catch the thick gold hoops in her ears and on her arms and the dark red garnet that hung from a fine gold chain around her neck. It had been her mother's and her father had passed it on to her on her sixteenth birthday. She fingered the gem, watching it change in the light. She missed them all so much.

She heard footsteps in the corridor outside and immediately sprang into action. By the time a harsh knock sounded on the door, moments later, followed by Markus stepping into the room, she was already sitting at the table on the balcony and by the time he stepped out into the sunlight she had already poured the wine and had just taken her hand off the bottle with just enough time to put it in her lap. She looked up calmly and smiled gently.

"Good evening Mark." Markus stopped in the doorway, gaping at her.

"How the hell do you do that Keri?" he asked and walked towards the table" I give you half an hour and you sit here like we'd arranged this days ago."

"So you finally admit that you do this to try and test me?" she asked with a grin. He smiled and sat down opposite her, picking up a glass of the red wine that she had poured.

"How do you do it?" When she merely raised an eyebrow he growled, "Alright, fine, you win. Yes, I do this to try and catch you out. Happy now?"

"I knew it!" grinning with Triumph, she got up and walked to the other end of the balcony, " okay, since you gave up…" she pushed on the wall in the corner and stepped back a little. It hissed and slid open to reveal a darkened room that held wines and snacks. Mark looked at her in shock and walked over. "It's fed with air from the wine cellars by special vents to keep it cool." He gaped at her and then it dawned on him.

"So if I only gave you ten minutes you'd still be ready by the time I got here?"

"Probably, though you'd have to give me brownie points for that because I'd still have to get dressed" she chuckled and led him back to the table "So what did you want to talk to me about? Or was this just to try and catch me out?" she asked with a wicked smile.

"No, there is actually a reason I wanted to meet." He sipped his wine slowly. "I saw something while we were out today." Keriwyn frowned at his expression. Whatever he'd seen, he was worried about it, and that worried her. "I didn't tell the others about it, but I think that they sensed it… Keri, there was something following us, and it wasn't an animal or one of the demons. I kept seeing it from the corner of my eye, but when I looked, it was gone. At least I though it was, until I looked properly. There was a distortion in the air, like a heat haze, but it wasn't. it had the outline of a person, a big person, at least eight feet, but I lost sight of it when we crossed the border river." He looked up at Keriwyn. She was looking out over the falls as if the stars that were appearing, or the moon that was just starting to rise, would give her the answers she was looking for. She really was a beautiful woman, he thought to himself as he watched her, but she had so much sadness and anger under that golden skin of hers. It was there in her eyes, carefully hidden, but it still broke through at times. He'd fought with her in battle and seen how quickly she could move. She killed with grace. He shook himself back into the present and the situation at hand. "Keri?"

She blinked and looked back at him, her eyes grave. What had she been thinking about, he wondered.

"Sorry Mark, I was just going over my information about the Demons. Whatever you saw must be related to them somehow… I'll keep an eye out." She added, almost to herself.

"What do you mean 'keep an eye out'? Are you thinking of joining the Riders?"

"Yes." She knew that she'd answered a bit fast, but she hadn't meant to say out loud that she'd keep an eye out, and he'd unknowingly given her the perfect cover. She took a breath and then continued, a bit more calmly. "I'm going to join you when you go on scouting trips, and in between trips I'll keep an eye out around the city to see if anyone else has seen anything out of the ordinary."

"Okay, I'd better let the team know. We're going out again tomorrow to cover the northern half of the border." Good, Keriwyn thought, we'll be going closer to the nest. If these things are related to the demons then there's a good chance that I'll get a look at one there.

"Dawn?"

"Always." He smiled.

"I'll meet you at the stables. I'll go and see Derek first though, to tell him that I'll be joining you and ask him to spread the word." He nodded, getting up.

"Right, I'd better-" he was cut off by a flurry of activity in the shadows. The bats, seeing that their friend's visitor was leaving, took off into the night, flying past the pair and causing Markus to duck sharply. One youngling that was particularly fond of Keriwyn, landed in her hair and fluttered around, telling her to join them. Keriwyn looked away and chuckled softly, then looked back at Mark, who had stood up again, and faked a sigh. Her friends were impatient today.

"It'll take me ages to get this little one out of my hair. You may as well go, I'll meet you at the stables at dawn." She told him, biting back a grin, and after a quick goodbye he left the room shaking his head and wondering how she could live with those things in her room. As soon as his footsteps died away Keri burst out laughing and walked to her wardrobe. She gently took the little bat in her hands and he let go of her hair, allowing her to put him on a nearby chair where he hung from the coarse cloth draped over it. She changed quickly into a black top and slacks, braiding her hair into a single thick braid and tying it with a piece of black ribbon, then she took her furry friend out onto the balcony and let him go, allowing him to circle around her.

---

Markus headed out the back way, which led to a smaller bridge across the middle branch of the river and directly to the barracks. He didn't really feel like going out the front way as he knew that his younger sister would be watching for him, and he knew exactly what she would say. Why was he so late? The scouts got back more than an hour ago. And he also missed dinner. Was he bugging Keri again? Didn't he know that she had enough to do without him always trying to put moves on her or trick her? He grimaced as he thought of the last time he's been home late. His little sister Merla really lived up to her name. She was small with dark eyes and raven hair, but despite her size, she was incredibly strong willed. She could slice a man's sanity to pieces with her sharp tongue as surely as she could pick up a sword and run him through. The other women admired her and the men generally stayed away from her. As he crossed the bridge he saw a movement above him and looked up as Keriwyn came out onto her balcony. Unconsciously, he stepped back into the shadows and watched her.

She had changed, he noticed, and her hair was tied back as she released the small bat she had been holding. The small creature flew off before coming back and circling her, then flying off and coming back again and repeating the motion. It was as if it was telling her to follow. He watched her curiously but she just stood there for a few moments then looked back over her shoulder as if making sure that no-one was watching her then his eyes widened as she stepped onto the balcony rail, a wayward breeze causing her top to flutter. He watched in stunned silence as a pair of wings opened behind her , catching the breeze and flaring open as she fell forward, gliding down over the falls and then swooping back up a few seconds later.

He stood, rooted to the spot for what seemed like an eternity before finally stumbling home, only to open a bottle of strong red wine and take a long gulp that consisted of nearly half the bottle before collapsing into one of the chairs at his small kitchen table, replaying the image over and over in his mind. When he woke up, about two hours before dawn he had a extremely bad headache and just managed to make it to the bathroom, but only when he had finished getting ready twenty minutes later did he remember the events of the night before.

"Oh gods…" he whispered as the image of Keri taking off slammed back to the front of his mind. "She has wings…" Why didn't she tell me? And how the heck did she manage to hide it so long? "never mind that, how on Terrin did it happen?"


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N: heya, sorry this has taken so long, much longer than i would have liked actually. Here's the next chapter where we all get to say Hi to Din!**

**Merla: Drags Din out from behind tree Say hi Din! . **

**Din: grumbles Hello. **

**Merla: grins Unfortunately Midnite couldn't be here as she is currently stuck on the Yaut'ja homeworld...XD**

**Uni: smiles yes, i'm so happy she decided to do good for once, without being forced to, hey Merla?**

**Merla: Er... right. looks up nervously at flaming halo. /darn/ bats away halo and brushes ash out of hair ja, definately happy for her! smiles innocently **

**Din: snorts huh. let's just let them read the story... rolls eyes behind mask **

**Merla: YES, great idea Din!**

---

Child of Terrin

Chapter Two

Keriwyn sighed in contentment as she flew through the darkness, surrounded by her friends. It had taken her quite a while, but she had learnt to communicate with them in their own language, a series of clicks and chirrups that told her all she needed to know about her surroundings so that she always knew what lay ahead, whether it be food, danger, something ordinary or something new. Tonight it seemed that her friends were ill at ease. They stuck close to her and chattered a lot less than usual, and although her night vision was better than most people, as she spent most of her waking life in the darkness of night, she couldn't see the reason for their unease.

She could see the outline of the Menoæn Mountains to the northwest and the Menæs forest beneath her. She smiled as she flew over the forest. This was her true home. Even as a little girl she'd come here to sort out her problems and get away from life in the village. She'd come here every chance she got as soon as she could stay on her horse long enough to make the trip. She had a brown mare named Coco, and whenever she fought with her father or one of the maids, she'd run to the stables, saddle Coco and head straight into the forest, leaving her to graze while she climbed up into the high branches of the trees.

The taller trees grew up to a hundred feet tall and around four feet wide at the base, but they narrowed as they got higher. Their bark was a dark coal colour and their leaves were long and thin and grew in dark-green ropes (much like earth's weeping willow's leaves). The main branches spiralled up the main trunk like a giant spiral staircase and were leafless except for the ends where they exploded into many small branches from which the ropes of leaves grew.

Keriwyn folded in her wings and swooped down into the trees, landing lightly on the edge of a branch, then ran to the bough, used the trunk as leverage and sprang up onto the next branch, she ran to the end, bounced on the thinner part and flipped up onto the next branch, then ran to the trunk and repeated the moves. She did this a few more times, then, when she was high enough, she ran to the end of the branch and dove off, grabbing hold of one of the leaf ropes and swinging across to the next tree. When she was within range, Keri let go and arced, then twisted in the air so that she was facing the right way when she landed and dropped down into a crouch before taking off across the branch and repeating the cycle, jumping from tree to tree and making her way towards a specific clearing. When she reached it she was panting slightly. She knew that it was quicker and easier to fly, but flying didn't give her the adrenalin rush that her stunts in the trees did, and they also kept her body agile and quick.

The clearing was caused by a small dam that was fed by a underground water supply, the shore of the dam and the area around it was wet and marshy so that it was almost impossible to walk to the dam without finding yourself stuck in the thick mud and it was this fact that made the clearing so special. The only way to get to the dam was through the trees so it was secluded and untouched by people. Out of the marshy ground grew smaller fruit trees that bore little resemblance to their taller cousins. They were about half their size, with pale bark and jade leaves. Their roots branched out from the trunk above the ground, disappearing into the ground a foot away. The trunk itself was bare until it reached the top of the tree where the branches fanned out, thick with fleshy, elongated leaves. The fruits were large orbs with a thick beige shell and segmented red-purple flesh that hung down in large bunches.

The bats loved the fruit but couldn't break through the shell to get to the flesh so they usually had to wait for the fruit to fall and hit a tree branch so that it split open before they could eat it, but Keri found that it was easier for her to break the fruit open for them. She set about collecting the fruit that was ready to fall and dropping it into the mud below where she could collect it again later and wash and break it for them. The bats whirred around her, their chirps and wing beats soothing and exciting at the same time, telling her about the surroundings and sometimes just chattering to each other. She listened to them with interest, catching pieces of information and using it to fill in the blanks that her eyes couldn't. And so it was them that first alerted her to the fact that they were no longer alone in the clearing.

---

Din'qaan growled softly to himself as he watched the Ooman city. These oomans were pathetically primitive. Even more so than earth oomans who at least had decent weapons. He'd been to Earth, the ooman home world, only once before, when his brother, Zek'arhu had gone there to hunt, but that was before he and his brother had grown so far apart. Zek was a fierce hunter and made their father proud, and so did their little sister Ruhi'guan. Although Ruhi was still unblooded she was easily a better fighter than Zek, though her strengths lay in different areas. She was calm and still, and almost never lost her temper or patience, whereas Zek was infamous for his lack of control. He killed with brute force where she used cunning and patience to wear out her opponents and trap them. And she was tenacious. Paya help the hunter that caught her eye one day.

Din, however was not a fighter. He could hunt, obviously, but he didn't exactly like violence. He could use it if absolutely necessary, but he preferred to study rather than go out drinking with his brother and get into a dozen fights each night and unfortunately this fact brought shame his father. But it was his father's own quest for knowledge that brought them to this planet. this planet was supposed to be uninhabited yet they were both oomans and Kainde Amedha living on this planet in great numbers. They knew that the planet was originally meant to be a hunting ground that there had been complications and the plan was abandoned.

There were no records of future attempts to populate the planet with either oomans Kainde Amedha and this bothered the elders, this meant that either they were brought here by accident or they were brought here for a purpose by oomans or Yaut'ja. Both choices were unnerving. He sat motionless for a few more minutes then turned and leapt into the trees if he didn't get back to the ship soon he'd have helped to pay. As he leapt from branch to branch he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. His head snapped towards the movement causing his shoulder length dreadlocks to arc around him. His mask whirred softly as he focused on the heat signature.

It was a Ooman, jumping through the branches above him, surrounded by a cloud of the small winged rodents that dominated the night on this planet, bats, the oomans called them. Clicking in surprise, Din move silently to award the clearing these creatures were known to avoid oomans not hover around them. He landed soundlessly at the edge of the clearing and crouched, watching the Ooman jump from branch to branch collecting a large fruit from the trees and dropping it so that it landed in the mud below them. He tried to get a clear image of the Ooman but he couldn't with all the bats heat signatures flurrying around it. He focused on it as it jumped on a branch above him. It was slim and tall, probably a female then.

He had been so intent on watching the Ooman that he did not see the object hurtling towards him until it was too late to do anything but throw up his arms and stop it from hitting him in the face. The thick shell of the fruit sheltered on his wrist armour leaving the cold flesh and juice to splash over him, causing his cloak to crackle and spark before dying.

"C'jit!" he grimaced as the cold juice ran down his back leaving a sticky trail while the actual flesh got caught in his deadlocks. He lowered his arms just in time to see the Ooman female drop down and silently land in a crouch a few feet away hissing slightly. "oh pauk."

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**So what do you think? please R+R!**


	4. CHapter Three

**A/N:**Heya! Sorry it's taken so long, but I just finished my finals, and I've spent the last 48 hours writing like a madwoman to get this up, so here it is. Chapter Three. Thanks to StormRaven333 for giving me the info on_ dottore _Eisenberg.

XXXXX

**Child of Terrin**

**Chapter Three**

Kerri dropped down onto the branch that the creature was on and hissed, letting it know that she was not pleased that it had been watching her.

"Oh pauk" She jumped back in alarm, her eyes going incredibly wide. She was suddenly shaking like a child thrown back into memories she didn't know she had, where she was no more than three or four, just a child. The child she had been the last time she'd heard that language spoken, over a hundred years earlier.

_**Flashback **_

_Kerri looked up in terror at the man towering over her. His dark grey hair glinting silver in the moonlight, his eyes hollows of darkness that sent violent shudders up her spine and made all her hair stand on end. _

"_So, little one. You wish to die for your family" he said in a cold voice that held no emotion. "A pity you are so young. You would have made a fine host for my Queen." The trembling girl didn't know what he meant by the word 'host' but she knew well enough that he was trying to scare her. She had watched as he'd scared her mother and sister before pulling an ugly face at her mother and killed her, throwing her body aside with a careless toss of his wrist._

_As young as Kerri was, she understood death, her parents had not tried to hide it from her as the other grown ups did. What she did not fully understand was why these…men were here. They landed in the darkest part of the night and entered her home, attacking and killing her mother. Her father and brothers were away oh a hunting trip. And now they were taking her sister away. She had run after them, yelling at them to let her go, but now she crouched, cradling her cheek where the leader had hit her. Her violet eyes darted from the man to look behind him, the men that had her sister were dragging her into a huge metal thing with mist rolling out of it. She had stopped screaming. And then she was gone. _

_Kerri let out a whimper and the man laughed. It was a cold, mocking laugh that snapped something in her innocent mind, and she lunged at him. Seeing a knife tucked into his dark boots, she grabbed for it and managed to get it out and cut him, just as something shimmered into view next to her. She felt the impact of something -a blade hitting her chest, then she was flying through the air, she hit a tree a few meters away with a thud and crack, and fell limply to the ground._

_She heard, rather than saw someone walk towards her as the man with grey hair cursed for she was looking at her hand which had fallen in front of her face, trying to stay awake. There was something white on her hand instead of blood. The person stopped in front of her and she took her eyes off her hand. It wasn't someone, but something that stood over her. It's feet were dark grey and had claws on the toes. _

"_Dammit Prak'tin! I have told you before not to uncloak in front of humans!" the creature in front of her snarled and spun away to face the man._

"_Ellos-de pauk, android! I do as I wish. Or do you forget that it was I that killed that old fool and allowed you to continue your Kainde Amedha experiments?" the creature, Parak'tin's voice was loud and harsh, like a wildcat's cry. And Kerri wasn't surprised when the man stepped back._

"_No, I do not forget." The man's reply was strange, like he was in pain. "I am indebted to you for killing Weyland, and providing me with more samples, but these humans are not ready to know about your kind. Once I have my queen…"_

"_Doctor Eizenburg. The subject is secured, we are ready to leave." A voice interrupted. _

"_Very good. I will be on board shortly." The one called Eizenburg replied. He then wakled over to Kerri and crouched down. "but what to do with you, little one." Kerri trembled and tried to move, but fell back down in pain, her head swimming._

"_Leave the little Tetch'na. It is weak and of no use to us. It will most likely die anyway."_

"_Hn. I suppose so." He got up and they both turned and returned to the metal thing, leaving her to die. She panicked and tried to get up again, but like before she collapsed, and this time the world went black._

_**End Flashback.**_

Kerri scrambled backwards, blinking sudden tears out of her eyes, before she realised what she was doing and hissed again, but this time at herself. Then she focussed on the creature in front of her, flexed her shoulders and crouched low against the tree branch.

"JISHEN!" She spat, and nearly fell off her perch when the creature jumped back. This caused her to take a closer look at the being in front of her. It was really tall and looked almost like a person, but it was most definitely not from terrin. It's skin was a dark grey-green with darker stripes and speckles. It was not the same creature from her memory, although it was the same species. it was almost reptilian in nature, like a lizard in armour, and as curiosity became dominant she found herself craning her neck to see if it had a tail.

Din watched the ooman in fascination as she studied him and he began to feel self-conscious, standing there like a idiot and dripping fruit. He'd been taken aback at the recognition in her tone when she'd cursed him. He didn't know what the term meant, but he got the general idea. Neither of them let their guard down until she began to lean to the side, as if trying to see behind him. He frowned and turned to see what was behind him, and too late he realized his error.

Kerri bit back a laugh as the creature tried to look behind itself and then swung back immediately. It didn't have a tail. She didn't have to see it's face to know that it was looking at her suspiciously and she felt a laugh tumbling out her lips before she could stop it. She'd been to quick to judge the being, she thought, it seemed just as wary of her as she was of it. After all, there were bad men and good men, so why not with other creatures as well?

Din blinked in shock. The ooman was…

"Why do you laugh at me ooman?" he growled, and Kerri snapped her mouth shut.

"You speak our language?" she asked in surprise.

"I do." he replied, relaxing and stepping forward slightly. Kerri noticed and hesitantly stepped forward herself.

"Wha- Who are you?" the question was tentative. She had been about to ask what it -he was.

"I am Din'qaan. And I am what oomans call a Hunter." She didn't fail to notice how he stood a little straighter as he said that. he obviously had pride. But he'd called her…

"What does that word mean? Ooman?" Din couldn't stop himself gaping at the question. He could tell by her frown that she was serious, but she was…

"An ooman. You are an ooman."

"Oh. That is your name for a child of Terrin."

"Yes." Child of Terrin? That was new. There was a small silence. "Who are you?" he asked. She was young for a ooman, yet she acted like she was older. He noticed her stiffen and cocked his head slightly.

"I am Keriwyn. " With the simple mention of her name, all of her duties came back to her. She was reminded that her people were at war, and that this being, Din'qaan he had called himself, was somehow connected to the demons that threatened her people. And she had to find out how. "What are you doing in my land?" the question was not harsh or rude, but her tone had definitely changed.

Din frowned at the change. Then he took in the words she had used. Her land. But that was ridiculous! She was barely an adult!

"Your land? Do not toy with me ooman. You cannot own this place, you are too young."

Kerri didn't know whether to smirk or scream. She went the second route.

"I do not own this place, you overgrown lizard, I am it's guardian! I care for the land and protect the people. And I am not Young by any standards!" Din blinked for a second in utter shock. An ooman had just yelled at him. Yelled. At a Yaut'ja. And she claimed to be older than she was. And the guardian of this land. He snarled at her. It was a pity he didn't like killing for no reason. To her credit, she didn't flinch.

"Who are you ooman?!" they both stepped forward until he was towering directly over her.

"Stop calling me ooman! I have a name, remember? I am Queen Keriwyn, guardian of Dreyone, daughter of King Tristan the fourth and I have ruled over Dreyone since he was slaughtered when I was sixteen." She answered hotly, her hands on her hips, and only years of training kept her from flaring her wings in anger.

"And that was what, Four years ago?" Din retorted, but there was less venom in his voice. She had lost her parents before their time. He respected that.

"No," she answered sadly, her hands dropping to her sides, but her glare still held defiance "It's been a lot longer than that." He saw that she would not tell him how old she was and decided to let it go.

"Very well then, Queen Keriwyn. I am Din'qaan of the Zou'kii clan. My people are hunters and warriors." He eyed her, wondering how much to tell her. "My people have ships all over the galaxy, and we are on this planet to hunt a Kainde Amedha Queen" he decided that that was enough information, but what he didn't think of was her reaction. She jerked sharply, as if she'd been slapped. "You've heard of them before?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes." Her voice was barely audible. The man in her memory had talked about a queen. And the… other one had talked about Kainde Amedha. She looked up at Din. She had a feeling that these Kainde Amedha were the Demons. Then she remembered that Doctor speaking about using her as a host. Yes, they were the same. And that meant they'd taken her sister to… Kerri growled. This wasn't just about her people anymore. It was personal. And if Din was here to hunt the Queen, then that meant that he was an ally. "You should know," she said slowly, "you aren't the first of your kind to come here."

…

"What?!" Din's surprise got the better of him, causing the word to come out harsher than he wanted, more of a roar than a actual word, and Keriwyn flinched. "How do you know this?" he asked, stepping forward, his voice a growl. Kerri forced herself to stand still and face him.

"I was –"Her next word was cut off by the sound of a blade slicing through air, and both of them looked towards the sound in time for Kerri to see the strange object heading straight for her. She tried to dodge it, but even her reflexes couldn't get her completely out of danger and the object caught her in the shoulder, snapping her collarbone and imbedding itself in her upper arm. She gasped as the air was knocked out of her lungs and she was thrown off the branch, unable to stop her fall as it would mean moving her shoulder, and that would only tear the muscles further.

XXXXX

MN: 'whistles innocently'

Merla: O.O …You have GOT to be kidding. You can't just end it there!

MN: uhhh, yes I can. I just did. XD

Merla: 'shakes head in disbelief'

MN: 'smirks' Merla, pick your jaw up, it's getting dirty.


	5. Chapter Four

**A/N:** **heya! Man it feels great to be writing again. sighs in contentment and thanks to everyone for your reviews! **

"_Italics" _**is speech that has been translated from another language. Anyhoo, hope you enjoy this chapter. And hope you aren't too cross with me for taking so long.**

**Child of Terrin**

**Chapter four**

Din whirled around in time to see Kerri's body splash into the icy water below. He quickly scanned the water, but it's temperature was rapidly cooling Kerri's body and she faded out of his vision.

"Pauk" he swore, and a figure landed silently on the branch next to him. _"What did you do that for?"_ He asked, not having to look to know who it was. There was only one person who could be that silent.

"What are you talking about Din? I did you a favour. You know that the ooman would've run back to her city screaming about 'aliens'." His sister retorted hotly, turning to face him.

"Hn. If she were going to do that she would have done so the moment she saw me, instead she stayed. Besides, she had information I wanted." He regretted the words instantly. For some reason he felt uncomfortable telling Ruhi that a Yaut'ja had been to this planet before.

"What are you talking about?!" he could feel the shock and suspicion radiating from his sister and mentally cursed himself. His anger and uncertainty at his mistake caused him to fall back on his sarcasm.

"Well done Sister. You just killed these Oomans' Queen. Definitely a worthy kill." He felt, rather than saw his sister gaping at him, as she too wore her mask, and could almost hear her brain screaming. She knew as well as he that Humans were protective of their leaders, and that if one disappeared it would start complete chaos. Add in the fact that they would hold the Kainde Amedha responsible and would likely try and attack the Hive, giving them a feast in the process, and it meant that they would have an incredibly hard time finding out how this infestation had occurred in the first place.

"Oh pauk…" Ruhi whispered, feeling slightly weak. She had enough of their mother's intellect to know what she had just done, and for the first time in her life she was worried that her father might actually kill her if she told him. And if not her father, then her older brother Zek'haru would likely take delight in seeing that she was killed for her stupidity. "Paya help me."

They turned sharply when they heard a shrill whistle coming from the ground below them, and gaped, not believing their eyes.

"impossible…" they chorused. If the blade hadn't killed her then surely the fall should have.

XXXXX

Kerri felt the cold seeping into her bones as the water pressed down on her. Shit her arm hurt really badly. She reached up with her right arm and ripped the object out, surrounding herself in a cloud of darkness. It had definitely severed something, she felt herself loosing a lot of blood, the bone was splintered, and she could feel the sharp edges cutting her fingertips.

White hot pain flooded her senses as the wound gradually stopped bleeding and started knitting itself together. If she hadn't been underwater she would have screamed, but as she was, all she could do was bite her lip and make a strangled keening sound.

She felt the bone fuse itself back together and winced as she moved to test it. It would take an hour or so for the wound to fully heal, because of the depth of the wound and the blood loss, but in the meantime she really needed air now.

She used her good arm and her legs to make her way to the edge of the pond, and she broke the surface, gasping for air. She swam to the nearest tree and climbed onto it's roots, hissing as the dull pain in her shoulder flared. Gods. She hadn't been in this much pain since she'd fallen off one of the palace balconies, and that had been horrible. She'd torn almost all the muscles in her back and shoulders, dislocated both arms and damaged her spine, thank gods she hadn't severed it though.

She pulled herself back to the situation at hand and looked up to see the creature Din standing with another of his kind. That was obviously the one that had attacked her. She looked at the object in her hand, it was a large disc with three blades curving out from its centre. It was obviously meant to be thrown. She smirked, looked back at the pair who seemed to be arguing and whistled loudly. She watched as they turned to her, smirking even more as they did a double take.

"HEY! I think you dropped this!" she yelled and threw the object back at its owner.

XXXX

Ruhi'guan caught the weapon flying towards her easily, her eyes glued to the ooman, and growled. Din laughed at her and jumped down to where Kerri was.

"How …" Din's voice trailed off as he saw her arm. The shuriken had sliced through her top, leaving her left shoulder and part of her chest exposed and revealing a small cut where the Shuriken had hit. He rattled in shock. Surely the wound should have been bigger? He'd seen the shuriken imbedded into her shoulder… "Why are you not injured more badly?" he asked " I saw the Suriken hit you, the wound should be much larger!"

Keriwyn growled as Ruhi landed beside them, and instinctively took a step back, out of the yaut'ja's reach.

Din looked pointedly at Ruhi and cleared his throat.

"_What?_" Ruhi asked, pretending not to notice her brother's agitation. Din growled.

"_Apologise._"

"_WHAT_?" Ruhi growled in outrage "_To the ooman? Never. Have you lost your sense?"_

"_RUHI'GUAN_," Din roared and drew himself up to his full height "_APOLOGISE TO THE OOMAN NOW!_" Ruhi's eyes widened. Her brother may not be interested in hunting, but he still sparred and trained, and when he took that tone and stood like that he was just like their father, and their father was the scariest being she had ever met. She turned to the ooman immediately.

Kerri had jumped back, and now stood against the trunk of the tree, eyes wide. She remembered again how violent these creatures could be as she watched Din roar at the other one. She didn't understand what they were saying but she had a feeling it was because of her. Then the shorter one turned to her.

"I apologize, ooman, for trying to kill you. I was… mistaken." Ruhi ground out. "_Are you satisfied?_" she asked her brother in a scathing tone.

"_Yes._" Din turned back to Keriwyn. "Keriwyn, this is my younger sister Ruhi'guan."

Keri eyed the younger yaut'ja shiftily. "Ruhi'guan?" Ruhi folded her arms and nodded. "Why did you try to kill me?" Ruhi snorted at looked at Din who was getting slightly uncomfortable. Kerri looked at Din questioningly.

"Din'qaan?" Din shifted then sighed.

"Keriwyn, oomans are not known for their subtlety, and this is a very tense situation for our people, the oomans are not to know that we are here, and when my sister saw that I was uncloaked in front of an ooman, her first reaction was to protect our mission."

"To stop the Hive from taking over the planet." Din nodded while Ruhi watched them with irritation, had her brother told the ooman everything?!

"Indeed. They are-" at that point Ruhi became aware of something moving behind Kerri, it was the slightest of movements, like something flexing, and she spoke over her brother.

"What is that?" she asked, trying to look behind Kerri, whose eyes had widened.

Kerri gulped and tucked her wing tightly against her body, wincing as it twinged, still not fully healed. But Ruhi grabbed her by the left arm and spun her around, drawing a pained hiss, and looked at her back.

"What the pauk?" she swore, startled. The ooman had…something on it's back. Kerri grit her teeth and pulled away from the younger yaut'ja, almost falling off the root in the process, and cradled her left arm in her right. But by this time Din had also seen her wings,

"Keriwyn?" he asked. "What is on your back?" She looked up like a panicked dear, and then took a shaky breath to steady her nerves. They would've found out anyway, she reasoned, and there was no use panicking about it.

"W-Wings." She answered softly, and gently opened her wings, extending the right wing to it's full length but only managing to get the left open part of the way.

"She's not even ooman?" Ruhi asked incredulously. "But she acts just like one, she even looks just like one!" Din Flicked through his vision modes, and in every one Keriwyn looked just like the average human should, except for the fact that she had wings. He studied the limbs closer; they protruded from either side of her spine, to two large hand-like limbs with elongated fingers. The bones were strange, solid, and yet flexible. His gaze swept over the right wing, then moved to the left, until his eyes came to rest on the wound in her left shoulder, sure enough he could see where the blades had severed tissue and splintered bone, then as he watched the muscles were sewing themselves together, pushing bone back into place, cartilage was repairing itself and joining bones together. After a minute or so he managed to take his eyes off the wound and looked over the rest of her body. All organs were where they were supposed to be, the lungs were slightly larger than normal, and her heart was also larger, but as far as he could see…

"She is ooman. A very strange ooman, but still ooman nonetheless." Kerri shifted uneasily, she felt like a fish in a fishbowl. Well at least they believed that she was a child of Terrin, or ooman as they called her people.

"But how can she have wings? No oomans have wings." Ruhi argued.

They both looked at Kerri expectantly.

"Erm…"

"Keriwyn, why do you have wings?" he held up a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. "Please tell us the truth, I think it's time we learnt something about you."

"They grew one day by themselves. I don't know why they suddenly grew. It happened a long time ago." She told them of how she'd been sitting on the balcony watching the water rush past when a movement behind her had startled her and she'd fallen off into the water, before she'd registered it she was airborne again and falling. She'd panicked, wishing she'd had wings to slow the fall, when she'd felt the heat and pain in her back, she'd blacked out for a moment. When she'd regained her senses, she instinctively flared a pair of wings, not questioning their sudden appearance, and ended up screaming at the pain that ran through her back and arms as her fall was sharply slowed almost to a stop, just a few feet above the churning water, the now useless smallish wings had crumpled and she'd dropped into the water, she'd barely managed to stay afloat and had eventually washed ashore collapsing onto the cold sand and drifting into unconsciousness and when she'd woken up she'd seemed to have grown a set of large bat-like wings.

"After that I learnt to use them, though it didn't take long."

"So… they simply grew? When you needed them?" Kerri nodded at Din's question.

"But…" Ruhi began, then fell silent. How was it possible? She was about to voice her question when the flock of bats, which had previously flown off and stayed away, suddenly swarmed down around them in a maelstroom of furry bodies and beating wings, clicking urgently.

Kerri could barely make out the warning with all the bats clicking and chirruping over each other, but she managed to piece together their frantic messages and her eyes widened.

She turned to Din and raised her voice slightly over the noise.

"Two more of your kind are coming this way." Din almost yelped. They could only be his father and brother. And if they saw Keriwyn… He caught Ruhi's frantic glance.

"_Pauk. Father and Zek. We have to leave. Now._" She hissed at him.

"_But they cannot find Keriwyn here. They will know_." He turned to Keriwyn who was now starting to worry. "Keriwyn, we have to leave. And so do you, It is not safe for you to be here, If Zek sees you, he will know you've seen us and he will kill you." Keriwyn nodded, glanced at them, and took off, gritting her teeth as her left wing ached, but it at least worked properly. All she had to do was get to a decent height, then she could glide to a safe distance and go the rest of the way on foot if she had to.

Din watched as Keriwyn took off in a swirl of bats before he turned to Ruhi and they both ran, moving swiftly and silently through the trees and barely avoiding their father and brother, until they reached the ship. Once inside they decided that the night's events would stay between them and they would not discuss it. Din went into his room and removed his mask, the sweet smell of fruit reminding him that he needed a bath. As he picked the fruit out of his hair he realised that he had almost forgotten what Kerri had told him.

_You are not the first of your kind to visit this planet._

Who could the other have been, why had they come here, and worse, why was there no record of it?

XXXXX

On the planet Taelan, a messenger turned to his workstation as a transmission came in, addressed to his boss. The message was from a hangar about a mile from the main research labs.

"Doctor, we have a message coming through from the hangar." the messenger announced as he turned to a screen on his left.

"I'll take it in my quarters." Replied the drawling voice of the doctor and he cut the connection. In his quarters Dr Eisenberg opened the incoming message. "Well if it isn't Prak'tin's protégé daughter. What do you have to report, Kenda'zu? It had better be good news."

Kenda'zu smiled on the other end of the link.

"The team is ready to extract the Queen. But there is a minor complication. The council have sent a ship to investigate the hive. Fortunately it is only Batru'bnis and three of his children, two sons and an unblooded daughter. He is an old arbitrator. His eldest son Zek'haru is one of us, his other son, Din'qaan, is a poor excuse for a yaut'ja, more interested in archives than hunting. His daughter, Ruhi'guan, may be a problem. Although she is unblooded she is a more than capable huntress and an excellent fighter."

"Do you know much about this Zek'haru? Is he loyal to us?" Kenda'zu smiled evilly.

" I know him." She confirmed, "And I know he is completely loyal to this project."

"Very good." Dr Eisenberg smirked. "See to it that his family do not get in our way."

"It will be my pleasure sir." He cut the link and opened a video feed to the containment area.

"Prak'tin, how is our specimen doing?" he asked. The dark yaut'ja smiled and moved the camera so that it showed the cage.

"See for yourself Doctor."

The cage was designed to hold a xenomorph queen, but held instead what looked similar a human woman with long black hair and violet eyes. Her skin was as white as chalk and her legs were longer than they should be, while her arms were shorter. She had four spikes on her back, and in place of normal feet she had reptilian looking ones with long sharp claws. Her hands too were long and angular and ended in sharp claws. Her mouth held rows of sharp silvery teeth and her lips were pulled back in a snarl.

"Perfect." Dr Eisenberg laughed. "She is ready. Now all we need is to kill her rival."

XXXXX

In Dreyone, a young girl with flaming hair and dark teal eyes cried in her sleep.

"Kerri!" she whimpered. "What have they…?" but before she finished the sentence she had rolled over into another dream.

**XXXXX**

**Uni: Maybe this is a good time to mention that Terrin's moon is actually not a moon at all. It is a smaller desert planet with pale yellow sand named Taelan. Is exists along the same orbital path as Terrin, and is close enough to throw off Terrin's gravity, allowing the plants and mountains to grow much higher than they normally would, but it is still far enough to stop the planets being pulled towards each other. **

**MN: Damn, That took a while to write.**

**Merla: 'collapses' yeah. Sorry guy's that it took so long, but we really had some problems with time.**

**Uni: yeah, we got carted all over the jo'burg countryside. **

**Merla: I can't wait for tomorrow, we're going to the Koppies! Yay!**

**MN: yeah, and we have a bath that is right next to a huge window so everyone gets to see you starkers!**

**Merla: that's what they have curtains for Midnite. 'rolls eyes'**


	6. Chapter Five

**Child of Terrin**

**Chapter Five**

**A/N: this chapter has a bit of violence at the end, so I'm rating it M just to be on the safe side.**

The air at the palace stables was chilly and filled the scent of freshly cut hay as Keriwyn saddled her stallion, Charm. His coat was a pale grey with a darker mane and tail. And he was a charmer. Right from when he was a foal he had caught the attention of all the stable maids, always getting the food and attention.

Charm whinnied and nipped at Kerri's shoulder, pulling her out of her reverie, and she smiled sleepily. It was almost dawn and the stable was lit only by two large lanterns. She finished with the saddle and led charm quietly out into the stable yard, where she started to groom him. She was almost finished when a young girl of sixteen came running towards her, panting with breath.

She was skinny, around five-foot-six, and had long orange hair with lighter streaks that flowed like flames behind her. She was being chased by two young men, one twenty-six and the other twenty-two. Both had pale blond hair and striking dark blue eyes. The girl stopped a few feet away from Keriwyn, skidding slightly on the wet stone.

"Lady Keriwyn," The girl said, grinning and ducking her head in a bow, before turning two the boys. "I do believe I won." She stated proudly and ducked into the stable.

"Why did we agree to race her?" complained the younger of the two, panting for breath.

"Because she's a skinny runt and no woman can beat us." The elder replied with a scowl that made Keriwyn laugh.

"Well it would seem that one just did Tyron." Tyron looked up at Kerri and his scowl immediately melted into a smile that could turn a woman's knees to jelly.

"Keriwyn, you look radiant this morning." Tyron took Keriwyn's hand and kissed it, earning a groan from his little brother James and a laugh from Keriwyn.

"Oh, off with you!" Kerri said, batting him away. "You two get your horses saddled; I want to set off at dawn." The two boys bowed their heads and walked into the stable. The reason they were so disappointed when they lost soon became obvious as Tyger walked out of the stables, leading a brilliant white mare behind her. Kerri blinked in surprise.

"You're riding Jelica?" she asked and Tyger's teal eyes lit up as she nodded.

"Yes, I turned seventeen last week, so I get to ride out with you today and Tyron decided that he was going to challenge me. He said that no girl could outrun him, and we made a deal that if I won I got to ride Jelica. He has to ride Shadow." Keriwyn smirked. Shadow was a dark grey stallion with a stubborn personality, and he really didn't like Tyron.

"Poor Tyron." Tyger giggled. "So, you finally get to ride out. Your mother can't be happy."

"She isn't." they both turned at the grumbling voice.

"Mark! Are you okay?" Tyger ran to her mentor and took his arm, searching his face. His skin was paler than usual and his eyes were red. He smiled at her, but it was a tired one.

"Yes little one, I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well last night." He glanced at Kerri then looked back at Tyger. "And I just had to listen to your mom describe in detail what she'd do to me if you came home with so much as a scratch on you." Keriwyn frowned. Why had he looked at her like that? She made a note to ask him about it. Later.

"Well then," she said with a smile, "We'll just have to make sure you stay out of trouble."

The smile turned to a grin as Tyger rolled her eyes and patted Mark's arm.

"I'm going to finish brushing Jelica." She stated and went back to her horse. Keriwyn went back to Charm and Mark went inside to fetch his mare Kate. They busied themselves with their horses and talked about trivial things while they waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

They were ready to leave just after dawn, and Keriwyn turned to look at the group. The six riders looked back at her with a whole range of expressions. Mark looked tired, and nervous. His brown hair in disarray. Tyger was bouncy, all giggling nerves.

Bobby, a fairly short man with sandy blonde hair and grey-blue eyes looked as calm as a millpond, but then he had to be calm considering that he was married to Mark's sister, Merla.

Then there was Fred, who with his jet black hair and pale blue eyes looked at once shy and confident, though how he managed it, only he knew.

Then there was Tyron, who was never shy or nervous and could charm any female into his bed, and his brother Jamie, who was almost never seen without a scowl.

Her face lit in a smile as they mounted their horses she loved going out with the riders, even though she was usually the only female. It was as they were leaving the city limits that she realised just how tense her friends were. And she didn't blame them one bit as she felt that…presence. It intensified as they crossed the border river and she found herself surreptitiously glancing around. She caught Mark's glance and noticed he wore that same expression from earlier. She moved closer to him and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" he frowned, considering, then shrugged a shoulder slightly.

"I saw you take off last night." It was only years of practise that kept Kerri from falling off Charm's back as her face paled and her jaw dropped. Her already frayed nerves strained further as she realised that three people .. well, sort of… had seen her wings in one night. She groaned inwardly before focussing on Mark again. He seemed anxious and she gave him a small smile.

"I suppose you would have found out eventually." She sighed, and saw him relax in turn. "What?" she asked in a slightly defensive tone. He shook his head.

"Nothing, I was just worried you'd freak out." Kerri blinked at him, then chuckled.

"_You_ were worried? Hn." Mark smiled softly and they moved to rejoin the rest of the riders. By this time they had travelled into the thick forest that dominated most of the country, and the group was on high alert. Kerri kept her eyes on the trees looking for… _There you are…_ she thought, spotting a faint glimmer in the trees above them. So, the Yaut'ja were definitely watching… instead of tensing, like the rest of the group would have, Kerri leaned back slightly in her saddle, knowing that the rest of the riders would follow her lead, and one by one, they slowly began to relax.

"So Mark, what were you doing following me last night? Is there something you're not telling us?" Mark choked and immediately began to defend himself. That was, until he caught the glean in Kerri's eyes. She was doing this on purpose. His thoughts were confirmed when she flicked her eyes to the trees. So they were being watched and she was trying to play it cool. He nodded slightly then rolled his eyes at her.

"What's this Mark? Are you after Kerri now?" Tyron asked teasingly, earning a blush from Mark, a smirk from Kerri, a giggle from Tyger and chuckles from the rest of the guys.

"Jee, Mark. You'd have thought that Merla running your life would be bad enough." Bobby teased.

"She does not run my life!" Mark replied hotly.

"Maybe, Maybe not." He replied and grinned suggestively "but she can run My life any day."

"That's because she already does, you fool." Fred pointed out.

"That's true." Bobby laughed.

"That wife of yours runs a tight ship." Jamie commented with a smile.

"That she does" Mark and Bobby chorused with matching groans. Kerri tutted and shook her head.

"Now what would poor Merla say if she heard how ungrateful you men are for all she's done for you?" she mock pouted with a wicked twinkle in her eyes.

"You wouldn't." Tyger gasped.

"Wouldn't what?" Kerri asked with feigned innocence, and the men laughed. They knew just as well as she did that she was never accused of innocence, and that no-one in their right mind would ever want to give Merla bad news. They rode on like this until shortly before noon when they stopped to rest their horses and have lunch. Kerri made sure that charm was grazing obediently and that everyone else was busy before slipping away from the group, after a short shake of her head to Mark who'd tried to follow her.

What she didn't notice was a pair of worried teal eyes following her every move and the quick flash of orange that darted into the thick foliage after her.

XxXxX

The undergrowth padded Din'qaan's soft footfalls allowing him to move silently as he followed Dreyone's young queen along a shaded trail through the forest. He crept closer and closer to Keriwyn keeping to the trees as his cloaking device was still not completely rid of the wretched fruit and he was loath to admit to his father that it was damaged. They continued this way for a few minutes until there was a loud yelp and a whiz of orange and brown tore down the trail under him, only to be caught by Keriwyn and revealed to be a smallish ooman girl. As he watched the girl dangling upside down he couldn't help rattling in laughter.

Keriwyn heard the person before they even got anywhere near her, but waited till the last minute before dropping into a low spin and catching the person by the ankle, then standing up and looking at the yelping and wriggling girl.

"Tyger!?" she exclaimed in surprise. Then narrowed her eyes as the girl started blabbering about shapes and following and lizards. "Hush!" Keriwyn ordered when she paused to breathe. The wide-eyed girl snapped her mouth closed. "Good. Now, Start again. Slowly" she added as Tyger opened her mouth to speak again. She glanced back the way they had come before gulping.

"It's watching us." She whispered, looking up at Keriwyn in fear, "I saw it following you and now I can feel it watching us." Keriwyn frowned and lowered the girl to the floor before stepping over her and crouching between her and the path. She froze when she heard a sound nearby. A sort of clicking rattling sound. She quickly scanned the foliage for the tell tale shift of air that signified the presence of a Yaut'ja but found nothing.

"What did you see?" Keriwyn asked in an almost silent voice.

"A- A walking lizard…in armour." Tyger whispered back. Definitely a Yaut'ja then, Keriwyn inwardly smiled at the description. But where was it?

"Where did you see it?"

"In a tree, but it's not there now. I can feel it… it's dropped down into the undergrowth now. Strange…" she now seemed to be thinking aloud, "feels so familiar…felt it before.." Tyger frowned and shook her head then looked at Kerri with a curious expression. "It's a good one."

Keriwyn looked at the girl in surprise and then shrugged. Mark had told her that Tyger was different and that she knew things she shouldn't. She looked back at the trees and caught a glimpse of movement in the shadows. As she focussed she remembered the sound she'd heard earlier and recognised it for what it was. Oh now she knew who it was.

"Were you laughing at me?!" she called out haughtily and stared at the area where she'd seen the movement, noting a vague outline among the plants.

Din considered keeping silent, but she already knew he was there, so he stepped forward into the path.

"No Ooman, I was laughing at the little one."

"Little!" Tyger squeaked indignantly, all species barriers forgotten as she placed her clenched fists on her hips and glared at the being that was at last two feet taller than her. No one but Mark called her little without suffering for it.

"I told you not to call me that!" Kerri huffed at the same time, putting her hands on her hips and mimicking Tyger's glare.

Din blinked at them before rattling in amusement at the identical poses.

"You should know better than to laugh at an incensed female brother, let alone two."

All three heads snapped around to see Ruhi crouching in a tree above them. She dropped down casually to land beside her brother and stood, smirking at him,

"Ruhi! You were supposed to go hunting with Zek'haru today!" At the sound of the name something stirred in the back of Tyger's mind, like a flicker of recognition, and it gnawed at her mind. That name. It sounded so familiar, as if she'd heard it before.

"No, he and father went to investigate some 'anomaly' that he found near the hive. They left over an hour ago."

"What type of anomaly?" Keriwyn asked frostily. There were far too many unanswered questions for her, not to mention she was still pissy about being referred to as 'ooman'. Ruhi watched her with amusement. It seemed her brother had gotten under the ooman queen's skin.

"I do not know. He said something about odd behaviour in the Kainde Amedha, although it is most likely just nothing. Our brother is not very intelligent."

"Do you know which way they went? I want to check this out for myself." The answer came from an unexpected source.

"I know where they are." Tyger whispered and they all blinked at her.

XxXxX

The old Queen screeched in annoyance, sensing danger nearby. She had known the moment that the human had entered her hive that They were coming.

Oh yes, she had scented the human's blood, and she knew it. She remembered well the scent of the one They had named her successor. Her child. Her Rival. The half-breed.

She screeched again and her children ran to her. Waves of concern flowed over her mind and soothed her. She allowed them to stay for a short while, and then sent them scurrying back to their duties.

/Dyen, Shayde, Liad, Cryse, come to me./ the four warriors came swiftly and silently to her side. They were her best. They would not fail her.

/Yesss my Queen?/ Shayde asked, bowing humbly before her, tail swaying slightly.

/You four will find this woman./ she shared with them the scent of their target/and bring her to me. Do not let her get away./ with that they were dismissed and left to hunt down their target.

XxXxX

Kenda'zu growled. Zek was late. She stood with ten of Dr Eisenberg's top men, fairly close to the edge of the hive, and waited for him to arrive. It was time to extract the Queen.

"Shouldn't the alien have arrived by now?" she heard one of the men whisper behind her, and she rounded on him, extending one lean arm and clenching her fists, she shot her Ki'cti-pa to full length – straight through his throat.

She retracted her Ki'cti-pa with a sharp hiss of metal sliding against metal and stood back. Surprisingly the man stood for almost ten seconds before making a gurgling sound, blood bubbling from the wound in his throat, and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

She glared at the others in the group and silently dared them to say a word, when none of them so much as blinked she turned back to the path ahead. It was a few more minutes before Zek uncloaked near them causing a few of the men to flinch.

The two Yaut'ja nodded in greeting and Zek'haru stepped forward.

_"Is it done?"_ Kenda'zu asked sharply causing Zek's brow to lift behind his mask. Then he spotted the dead ooman and smirked.

_"It is."_ He answered calmly.

_"Very well. Then let us begin what we came here to do."_ And with that she swiftly stepped past him and took the lead, her cloak crackling into life around her. Zek'haru spared one last glance at the corpse before swiftly following suite. It was going to be an interesting battle.

XxXxX

**MERLA: _tell _me you're kidding. And _tell _me that Zek didn't just do what I think he did…**

**MN: No, and you'll have to wait and see like everyone else. -smirks evilly-**

**MERLA: oh dear sweet Paya. You've finally lost it, haven't you?**

**UNI: -shudders- you're insane MN. Completely insane. **

**MN: -cackles evilly-**


	7. Chapter Six

**Child of Terrin**

**Chapter Six**

**A/N: well, this is where things start heating up for our friends.**

The four warriors moved through the shadows swiftly and silently, searching for the scent of their target. There were many human scents, most of them faded, but suddenly they came upon a fresh scent… it was one of the hunters. They hissed with animosity at the scent of their enemy and hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. This was their enemy, in their Queen's territory…no. the Queen had given them orders, and they came first. They continued on their search until they found a trail of human scents, fresh ones, and among them, the scent of their target. They hissed in excitement and picked up speed. They would soon have their prey.

XxXxX

Keriwyn looked around uneasily. Tyger and herself had returned to the rest of the group and Tyger was now leading the party deeper into the dense forest, finding hidden trails and paths as if she had been to this place many times before. Her brothers, noting the change in their sister glanced worriedly between the young girl and their queen and spoke between themselves. They knew that something was wrong, and it put them on edge. The rest of the group, sensing something wrong, were quiet, each lost in their own musings. Keriwyn herself was unnaturally tense, though she tried not to show it. She was panicking. She felt with every step closer to their destination that they were going to find something very bad when they reached it, and the closer they got, the stronger the feeling became, until she was ready to scream. Instead she caught Mark's eye and motioned him closer.

"Mark. I need you to do something for me." Mark glanced at her and she looked away. She could not see the horror in his eyes. "If something goes wrong, I want you and the rest to get back to the city."

"What?"

"I mean it Mark. I want you to get back to the city as fast as possible. No heroics, no arguing. If I give you the order I want the six of you gone. Got it?" she looked at him then, and what he saw in her eyes shocked him to the core. She was expecting danger, danger she might not be able to handle. He had never seen that look in her eyes before. He looked at the rest of the group, who were watching the two of them anxiously, wondering what was going on, and then back at Keriwyn.

"Very well." He said in a small voice and moved away from her again. He trusted her with his life, and it hurt him that she wouldn't tell him what was going on, but he would abide by her wishes. Unless he thought that she was wrong.

Keriwyn moved to the head of the group where Tyger rode with her head down and her hair hanging over her face.

"You know he's not going to listen to you." Came Tyger's voice from beneath the veil of hair.

"How do you know?" Keriwyn asked with a frown. There was something different about Tyger's voice. She couldn't place it.

"I just know these things." Tyger replied, looking up and Keriwyn blinked in surprise. Instead of the dark teal colour, Tyger's eyes were a bright green, and the expression on Tyger's face was one of fierce concentration.

"Dear Gods." Keriwyn breathed, and Tyger looked forward.

"You see. I'm not normal either." She stated, flicking a glance at Keriwyn's back. "I know things that others don't, and I sometimes hear things. I always have. When I was young, my parents used to just say I was lucky, and that I had a good imagination, but then when I got older it worried them, so I stopped telling them. My brothers know, and they help me hide it, but It's not easy."

"So that's how you knew about Din. But why are your eyes green?"

"My brothers tell me that they flash green when I sense or hear things, but when I'm focussing on my ability, like I am now, they stay green. Sometimes, If I use a lot of energy, I black out or don't remember what happened. But that only happens really when I see things."

The young girl's tone frightened Keriwyn enormously. How could someone so young sound so grave? But then, hadn't she sounded like that the day she'd taken over Dreyone in her father's absence? Her frown deepened as her thoughts drifted back to the past, and she pushed the thoughts away forcefully. This was not the time to dwell on events from over a hundred years ago. She had to focus on the problems at hand, most important being the fact that her tension had only increased during her conversation with Tyger. They rode on in relative silence for a while more, the only sounds being the soft plodding of the horses and the occasional soft trilling and clicking of their invisible companions.

Suddenly Tyger stiffened and turned to look at Keriwyn through a mass of orange curls.

"Something's wrong." She hissed, her eyes flaring a bright chrysoprase as her expression became very alarmed. "Something's very wrong. We need to move. NOW!" she let out a small cry and urged Jelica to move forward at a gallop. Keriwyn followed immediately while the others took a moment to figure out what was going on as their horses instinctively bolted forward. They galloped for no more than ten minutes before Tyger pulled on Jelica's reins, causing the poor mare to skid to a stop, but Tyger was already dismounted and clambering through the thick foliage on foot. Keriwyn took only the briefest moment to wrap Jelica and Charm's reins around a branch before she was off after the girl, catching up to her easily.

By the time the rest of the group got to the horses, there was no sign of the girls, as they ware bolting through the foliage. Suddenly Tyger skidded to a halt, and then quickly took a few steps forward and falling to her knees in front of a HUGE figure.

"_FATHER_!" Keriwyn didn't know the language of the cry that came from behind her, but she understood it all to well as she looked at the still figure on the ground. The tall Yaut'ja warrior was paler than his son, and his dreadlocks were a lighter grey and adorned with many silver clips, his armour was pitted and scarred in many places, as was the flesh beneath it, as if this warrior had seen many battles, which, judging from the sculls that hung across his chest and were fixed to his armour, he had. Finally Keriwyn looked at his unmasked face. His mask had been taken she realised, as it was no-where in sight.

She looked into the agony-glazed amber eyes and noted recognition there, but her view was blocked as Ruhi knelt down by her father's side.

"Father, where is Zek'haru? Who did this?" Ruhi asked urgently, and her father gave a dark chuckle, bright luminescent blood bubbling from his mouth and covering his mandibles.

"I should have seen it sooner." Was all he said before turning his gaze to Keriwyn again. Zek'haru was a fool for babbling about their plan with pride before leaving him to die. "He will come for you next ooman. His loyalty was never to me, but to the one you have insulted by surviving." He coughed and wheezed before continuing. Before turning to Din, who was now standing beside Keriwyn. "I may have been Blind, but I am not a fool. Guard the ooman. They have forgotten about her, but they… will soon… realise… she still… lives." Din nodded and his father lay there as Keriwyn unconsciously counted the seconds between his breaths until he arched off the ground and was gone.

XxXxX

Kenda'zu led the team into the hive alert for the slightest sign of movement. There was nothing, not even a drone moving in the shadows, and she began to feel uneasy.

"This feels like a trap" one of the men hissed almost inaudibly. Loath though she was to admit it, she agreed. There should have been some sign by now. She knew that the hive was large enough to introduce a new queen, so there had to be some Kainde Amedha lurking nearby, and yet she saw nothing. She flicked once more through vision modes and still came up with no sign of them.

They continued warily for a while before hell broke loose. They heard a screech from deep inside the cavern and then they were surrounded by Kainde Amedha. They attacked ruthlessly and in a few minutes only three of the marines were left standing, but there was a large pile of steaming Kainde Amedha bodies surrounding them. There was a crackling hiss and the ground gave way under their feet. The two yaut'ja, thinking almost as one, rolled as they hit and were on their feet again in moments. The oomans were not so lucky. The fall was long enough to break bones and they lay there, crippled or screaming in agony.

Kenda'zu looked at Zek and gave a cold laugh before they began running for the queens chamber. The time for subtlety was over. They made short work of finding her chamber, blasting any Kainde Amedha they came across before they had time to attack. Once inside the queens chamber, their job was simple. Kill her, and send out the ready signal so that the new queen could be inserted.

They circled her, dodging attacks skilfully and two well-placed shouldercannon shots severed her tale and left her without her main weapon. They watched as she grew more and more agitated, then as one attacked from both sides, starting the fight in earnest.

XxXxX

The Queen kept her children away from her chambers. She would fight these enemies on her own. She knew that they were not really attacking her, and it infuriated her. They enter her chambers just to toy with her? No, they were wearing her down. She was no longer young. Her crest was already scarred and beaten, she had deep scars from old battles that never truly healed, and now, with her tail gone she knew that she was defenceless. One last cry she launched herself at the stronger and larger of her opponents.

XxXxX

Kenda'zu watched the Queen rage towards her and opened fire, Zek doing the same, their plasma casters were modified and more efficient and the queen was cut down by a volley of blasts.

She moved over to the queen and the large creature screeched, but the screech was cut off by six shots straight through the base of her crest.

Kenda'zu activated her communicator and contacted her father.

"It is done" she said simply and her father nodded.

"Very well. Get back to the ship."

XxXxX

Throughout the hive the Kainde Amedha hung in the shadows, unsure of what to do. Their queen had told them that another would take her place, but they wanted revenge. Still, even in death they obeyed her last command and they waited. A few of them attacked the enemies as they made their escape, but most waited.

The four warriors out in the forest heard their Queen's last defiant screech, but they continues their hunt. The old queen had wanted the human for a reason. Perhaps the new queen would too. It would be a gift to honour her, they thought as they hastily followed the trail.

XxXxX

**MERLA: Oh Kami… I hope I don't see where this is going….**

**UNI: O.O… you made the queen seem so…**

**MN:Human?**

**UNI: yeah. Why?**

**MN: Sympathy.**

**MERLA: WHAT?!?!?!?! You're kidding right? You want us to feel sorry for the big bad alien?! You're outta your tree!**

**MN: -shrugs- do you?**

**MERLA: why you little…**

**UNI: uh……**


End file.
